The present invention is directed to an improvement in a device for safely protecting fixed structures from damage resulting from colliding vehicles or the like. More particularly, this invention is directed to a universal anchor assembly for a reusable impact attenuation device for absorbing and harmlessly dissipating the impact energy of a colliding vehicle.
It is known that rigid guardrails and similar immovable protective devices alongside vehicular traffic routes such as highspeed highways may be used for the purpose of preventing vehicles from colliding with fixed structures such as, for example, abutments, columns, and sign supports. A common practice is to place a rigid railing between the vehicular traffic route and the fixed structure to deflect the vehicle in such a manner that the vehicle avoids direct impact with the fixed structure. Such devices are of only limited value since they do not decelerate the vehicle at a controlled, safe rate to provide maximum safety and minimum injury to the occupants of the impacting vehicle. Further, such devices result in the impacting vehicle being thrown back onto the highway into the path of other moving vehicles.
It is also known that an improved and reusable impact attenuation device for protecting stationary structures from damage due to impacting vehicles can be provided utilizing an array of energy absorbing buffer elements arranged in chambers which sandwich or telescope into each other upon impact. Such chambers can be formed partially by fender panels which extend rearwardly in their normal positions to aid in properly redirecting a vehicle after a lateral impact to the protective device. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,674,115 and 3,944,187 disclose such reusable impact attenuation devices having liquid and dry buffer elements, respectively.
Although the reusable impact attenuation devices of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,674,115 and 3,944,187 have greatly advanced the art and have gained wide acceptance and recognition, a need exists for an improvement in the anchoring system of those impact attenuation devices. More specifically, present reusable impact attenuation devices require a different width of anchor assembly for each of several size increments in which the impact attenuation devices are assembled. Further, the anchor assemblies required for those impact attenuation devices having liquid buffer elements are different from the anchor assemblies required for those impact attenuation devices having dry buffer elements. As a result, manufacturing costs, inventory costs, and installation costs are higher than if a more uniform anchoring system were used.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved impact attenuation device having a universal anchor assembly which can be used regardless of the size of the impact attenuation device and regardless of the type of buffer elements used.